Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Two young boys are walking to school. One little boy looks at the other, seeing a giant grin on his face and says “ You sure do seem happy about going to school today. What’s gotten into you?”. Without hesitation the joy filled boy says “Well, I don’t want to brag but, I just found out that God himself is my Grandpa.” “How did you find that out?” Inquires the first young lad. “Well, my Mom asked my Dad to pray at dinner last night and he s ..read more

Acts 9:1-22 The conversion of Saul 9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lor ..read more

In the second chapter of Acts, we see the birth of the Church. Peter boldly preaches the first Church sermon, and 3000 are brought into the faith. What was so attractive about the early Church? Maybe it was the Holy Spirit acting upon everyone, or, was it the fact that they were like minded and together? I would be remiss if I did not mention my old joke: where in the Bible is a car mentioned? Acts chapter 2 because the Apostles were “All in one Accord”. Wait, don’t go. At the heart of the joke is the fact that they were all in one accord. Like minded and focused on the mission at hand; to bap ..read more

24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. -Psalm 118:24 I am not fond of roller coasters. That out of control drop feeling in my gut is what I hate the most. I am not so stressed or worried about the safety, as I know I cannot stop the chaos, all you can do is hang on for the ride, knowing full well that the ride will end or “This too shall pass”. The search for joy in life can seem like a never ending journey. Know that you are not alone as, you should know, few people (dare I say no one) lives in constant or perpetual joy. Sure, according to someone’s social med ..read more

“9 Let us not become weaey in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” -Galatians 6:9 As a Parish Priest, I can tell you that I would always like to find a way, or for God to tell me, how to do something that causes people to be lined up outside of our Church doors, just waiting to flood in. Wouldn’t we all love to see the kingdom grow in such a way? Well my friends, it just isn’t that easy. What I can tell you is the secret formula, not for drawing hundreds of thousands, but here it goes….Ready?…….It’s one soul at a time. Now, it cannot rest all in the h ..read more

Why You Should Get To Know The Church Fathers. Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you are a detective who is trying to solve a mystery, a “Who Done It?” if you will. Now you need evidence and as you start to gather it, the pieces of what happened and, ultimately why it happened, start to come together. A clear picture starts to form and the events that happened are no longer unknown and better understood. This is a good reason to get to know the Church Fathers and their writings. Writings of the Church Fathers are not exact matches to one another, but hearing (Or in our case reading) what they ..read more

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote —Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. -John 1:43-46 Ministering. Reaching people for the kingdom of God. Bringing them into the fold. Reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not everyone can be reach ..read more

Jesus’ Two First Breaths. There’s a first time for everything or so it seems. I would like you to consider, though, how Jesus took two first breaths and saved mankind. We know that Jesus did all kinds of things that we could never do. Water into Wine, walking on water and calming a storm come to mind. But I believe that none of those compare to taking his first breath, twice. first, Jesus took his first first breath upon entering the world. Born to a virgin, Mary, God entered the world as his only begotten son. Destined to live among us, teach us the way, and die a brutal death for us. In orde ..read more

14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” -1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV Obedience. Conformed. Holy. These are three powerful words. In order to live a life of a true follower of Jesus Christ, let us consider that the first two, obedience and conformed, are a staircase to the third, holy. Why Obedience? Obedience is defined as “Compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.” In our case, the “Another ..read more

A man decided to climb a mountain in order to get closer to God. What he found was that many other people were climbing the same mountain, all seeking their higher power. One person for every religion known to man. Our man was the only Christian. He got to the base, found a path, and began to climb by taking his first step up. His climb was quickly interrupted by someone tapping on his shoulder. “Can’t stop buddy, climbing up to get closer to God.” Lifting his other leg and yet another tap, tap, tap. “Sir, please, I can’t stop now. I’m heading up to be closer to God.” Finally, as our guy start ..read more